The Charles Street 12 or “Chuck12” (ya know, because we’re bros) is an amazing race that I was able to participate in this past Saturday. I came into the race a bit unprepared and with a few injuries, but I did it!! Also, and more importantly, this race I had the honor of being sponsored by BioSkin!! Looking at the race photos, I look like a poster child for BioSkin, lol. I’m rocking their amazing Calf Sleeves, and amazing new product they have out called the Ten-7, and a BioSkin t-shirt! 🙂 (More about that at the bottom of the post!!!)

Charles Street is a historic road (like… really, it was laid out in 1730!) that runs through Baltimore. It starts near where I live in Towson, and runs all the way into Baltimore City. (No, we didn’t run the ENTIRE length of the road… only 12 miles – yea, I giggled after I typed that.. only 12 miles.) I was really excited to run this course because it’s a baby race! Let me explain… it’s younger than my son. This race is 2 years old, and I was pumped to be getting in on the action early in its “career”!! Also, what excited me about the “Chuck12” was the elevation and course map. I love my city. Yea, we have some issues… but Baltimore is beautiful. So, the idea of running passed monuments like the Baltimore Basilica, Loyola University, Towson University, The Walters Art Gallery, The Peabody institute, only to end at power plant? Yea… I was sold. (and yes, I did run past all of those places. All as beautiful as I remember. 🙂 I also got to run through Harbor place!! 🙂 Gorgeous!! Really. So anyway, back to elevation… this was a bit misleading… the elevation chart posted on the website makes the course look like a piece of cake!! Look…

Chuck 12 Elevation Chart

Yea… No. Well, at least not for me. Like I mentioned, I was coming in a bit unprepared, and a bit injured. However, I had a small army of compression, thanks to BioSkin, that (for real) saved me during this race. The “bumps” as they’re lovingly called on the Charles St 12 website kicked my ass!! No joke. I was feeling a serious burn at mile 4. Luckily because of my “army”, I kept trucking. I inadvertently passed myself with a group of runner from Fleet feet Running. They were keeping a decent clip that wasn’t making me feel like death, and wasn’t hurting my ankle too terribly… so I kept pace with them. (I recognized the shirts they had on because my office is 3 miles from Fleet Feet’s Baltimore location.) Around mile 8 I picked up some speed and lost them. I started thinking to myself, “Ok, 1/3 to go, you’ve got this… just don’t stop”. Yea, I tend to divide my races up mathematically to make me feel better about the distance I’ve “traveled” or the distance I have yet to travel. Weird, but effective. (I never said I was normal, lol). Little did I know there was a KILLER hill right ahead of me… *sigh*. Eh, Embrace the suck. I trucked… slowly up the hill and on the way down noticed something… well… interestingly dressed people. I thought “shit, did I run to hard? Am I going to pass out?? I’m seeing things!!” Then I remembered by supervisor talking about her oldest son going to an anime convention this weekend in the Harbor… *lightbulb* Otakon (sp?) HUGE sigh of relief that I wasn’t about to fall out in front of all these people!! Best part?? This was the first time during the whole race where people were cheering! It was actually a nice change from the IRATE drivers that we’d been dealing with throughout the rest of the race. Seriously though… these people were driving through the runners, almost hitting them, beeping at us, and yelling at the very polite Baltimore City Police officers that were trying to protect us. What the actual f? I’m sorry, but what part of a few thousand runner are you missing here bud?!! Eh well, Obviously I survived without getting pummeled by a ridiculous driver. I saw the photographers on Harbor place and had to dodge a few tourists in order to not have them block the shot (Ludacris – “Move bitch”… yea… JUST LIKE THAT!) Luckily, I had shades on… otherwise the eye rolls may have been offensive. Once again though… you see A TON OF RUNNERS COMING AT YOU… at least to me, that would mean, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!! But then again… maybe that’s runner logic? I don’t know. Again, didn’t get taken out by a rouge tourist either! Yay!! *small victories!!* I ran past the World Trade Center in Baltimore and started to see other runners with medals.. “w00t!! my slow ass is almost done this thing!!” (yes I have an inner monologue while running) Turned the corner towards Power plant and BAM!! There she was… THE FINISH ARCH!!! 🙂 Gorgeous as ever!! 🙂 I got my BANGING medal…

Epic Bling!!

And then searched for water… yea… that wasn’t really cool, but I found it eventually. What WAS cool was the boxed lunch offered. Little turkey sandwich, chips (which I gave to Alex) and a Green Apple… which I also gave to Alex… Eh… Mom problems. lol. At least I got the sandwich. I didn’t partake in the beer because I knew I still had a TON of moving left to do that day, and alcohol + injury + dehydration + moving = NOT GOOD!!! So, I drank my water said good bye to my buddies, and peaced out!!

This picture is from the Charm City Run IG page, and guess who is RIGHT behind me (in O’s orange) and I didn’t know until AFTER this picture was posted… SALT (Lauren)!! lol. Yay for me being oblivious! 🙂 Also, yay for Baltimore blogger pictures! 🙂

photo of the Towson/Lutherville/Cockeysville Charm City Run runners before the race!

Pros –

Amazing Under Armour Premium

Epic Bling

Tasty post race food

Beautiful course

Very well prepared overall

(not like this was in anyone’s control) PERFECT WEATHER

live post race entertainment

Cons –

Crazy drivers trying to out run the cops

misleading elevation chart

hard to find water at the finish line

tourists blocking race photographers

(person preference) no banana/fruit at the finish line

Will I do this race again next year? You bet your ass I will!! Also, I wont miss out on the B3 series by an hour, so I’ll hopefully get the epic swag that a lot of my friends were able to partake in this year!! (B3 was a 5k, 10k, and this race “series”… you run all three, got an extra medal and an Under Armour backpack… I ran the 10K and this race… the 5K sold out an hour before I could sign up, so I couldn’t partake… soooo, NEXT YEAR!!!)

Now, let me take a moment to tell you about my “Army“… The Ten-7 is what BioSkin sent me upon sponsorship. This thing is amazing!! I told Jake (my contact) that I was having some knee pain while biking, and when I planted my foot in certain ways. This “Brace” took away ALL of the pain in my knee… for the whole 12 miles! (don’t believe me? Look at the videos on their website and hear from other people). This thing is awesome because it’s a knee brace, but it doesn’t touch your knee… look…

Ten-7

Pull it on, tighten, go! Of course, I’m also a HUGE fan of the calf sleeves from BioSkin. Pretty much any race I run 10 miles or over, they’re on my legs. I have SERIOUS shin splints, and these bad boys keep me able to run. I’m a firm believer in proof… So, I can jabber at you all day, but you can look at my race photos as proof. ALL OF THEM, I’m wearing BioSkin calf sleeves. I’m telling you right now… I.will.not.run.long.distances.without.them. Nope, sorry not sorry.

not the best picture of ME personally, but you can see the calf sleeves, and the ten-7.

I hope you enjoyed reading both my race recap, and my product review!! As always, stay happy and healthy!! ❤